Blue, Red and White Dark Abyss Cauldron

They walked in silence until it got dark, and neither of them showed any intention of stopping to rest.

Chu Liang made two torches, and he and Chu Xiaomu each held one, and they continued to march towards the South Village without stopping.

Bai Yixing was grateful and thought to himself, "They were afraid of delaying my recovery, so they refused to rest even after dark. If I can really cure my lung injury in the future, I will never forget their kindness." However, he didn't know that the people of Baihua Island have always been hardworking, and it is common for them to travel after dark.

They walked until midnight and found a hut specially for hunters to rest. Chu Liang then told Chu Xiaomu to stop, light a fire and rest.

The three of them were already tired, so they roasted a pheasant, added the half chicken and half rabbit that Bai Yixing had not eaten last night, ate a few dry biscuits, and then went to sleep.

The next day, the three of them got up early and set off.

Bai Yixing was no longer as worried as before and felt at peace, so he slept well at night and was in much better spirits than the day before. He insisted on walking by himself and refused to let Chu Xiaomu carry him on his back.

Chu Xiaomu couldn't persuade him, so he said, "That's fine, but we can't walk too fast, or we might not be able to reach the village until night."

But before they had walked two miles, Bai Yixing began to gasp and cough, and coughed up a lot of blood.

Chu Xiaomu said nothing, carried him on his back, and strode on.

After walking for another four hours, I gradually heard the clear and pleasant tinkling sounds of wind chimes.

Chu Liang said, "We have arrived at the village. Let's take a short break and then I will take you to the spiritual doctor's house to ask for some medicine."

Bai Yixing turned around and saw a unique village in front of him.

The village is neither too big nor too small. Hundreds of small pointed-roof houses of various sizes are scattered across the entire hillside.

The walls of the huts are built with green or gray stones, and some are also built with regular logs, with pointed roofs made of hay or tree bark on top, which adds a unique flavor.

What is even more amazing is that each house is surrounded by flowers of various colors, red, blue, purple, yellow, white and pink, in clusters, circles and stacks, which are so beautiful.

Bai Yixing thought: "No wonder this island is called Baihua Island, it really lives up to its name." He grew up in the Ice City of Snow Country. Although his family was rich, he rarely saw flowers. Suddenly seeing this exotic scenery, he felt relaxed and happy. When the breeze blew, the faint fragrance of flowers entered his nose, making him feel more refreshed, and it seemed that his injuries had healed by more than half.

After a short rest, we continued on our way.

Along the way, they began to meet many islanders who were dressed as simply as Chu Liang and Chu Xiaomu. When they saw Chu Xiaomu carrying a man with strange and luxurious clothes on his back, they all looked at him curiously.

Some even pulled Chu Liang aside and asked quietly, "Who is Xiaomu carrying? He doesn't look like someone from our island."

Chu Liang did not hide anything and told the truth that he was a person from the Snow Country. He was washed ashore by the waves after encountering a tsunami and was rescued by him. He was going to the home of the spiritual doctor Huai Fucao to ask for medicine.

The questioners were all surprised when they heard this, and some even shook their heads and said they didn't believe that the Snow Country people would drift to such a far island. Chu Liang didn't argue, but smiled and continued on his way.

The three of them walked through the path between the flowers and came to a small house with green walls.

Chu Xiaomu gently put Bai Yixing down and said, "We're home. Just sit down and I'll help grandpa." Then he went to help Chu Liang take care of the prey.

Bai Yixing looked around and saw that the house was equipped with everything from square tables, benches, and small tables. They were all made of thick wood and looked solid, but the workmanship was crude, far inferior to the various exquisite furniture in the Snow Country. Fortunately, although the house was messy, it was not too dirty.

After sitting there bored for a while, I suddenly heard a voice outside shouting, "Mu Tou, Mu Tou, come out quickly, something strange has happened."

Chu Xiaomu ran out the door and asked, "What happened? Why are you so flustered?"

The man outside the house was named Yang Dou, and he was about the same age as Chu Xiaomu, about seventeen or eighteen years old. He pulled Chu Xiaomu's arm and said, "Come with me and you'll know. But you can't tell me now, or you won't go."

Chu Xiaomu followed Yang Dou out of the village, walked along the mountain path for two or three miles, then climbed over a small hill, and after winding through a pile of rocks, they came to an open grassland.

Yang Dou pointed at the seven or eight wooden barrels hanging on the tree and said, "Look, all the bees are gone. They were fine yesterday. I don't know what happened!"

Chu Xiaomu walked forward and took a closer look, and sure enough, there was no trace of the bee.

The changes of seasons on Baihua Island are not obvious. Only one month a year is slightly cold, and the rest of the time is warm like spring, and various flowers bloom every month.

Insects such as bees and butterflies have always been seen in groups and lingering around. Although some of them occasionally migrate to other places, it has never been seen that they all disappear at once like this.

There were originally a lot of wild bees on Baihua Island, and the islanders often went to the mountains to collect honey to use as a seasoning for food.

Wild bees are unpredictable in their wildness, and they often build their nests on high treetops or cliffs. Collecting wild honey has become an extremely dangerous job. Every year, islanders are stung by wild bees or fall from heights while collecting honey and are injured, and some even die.

Because it is very difficult to harvest and it is gradually being depleted, honey is becoming increasingly precious.

Since coins could not be minted on the island, the islanders used barter to exchange food, clothing, tools, furniture, toys and other items. Honey became one of the hard currencies for exchange because of its preciousness.

Once, Chu Xiaomu picked up a beehive and found that the queen bee was still there. He then sawed a two-foot-long piece of wood, hollowed out the center, placed the beehive in it and hung it on the tree. Two days later, a large number of bees were attracted to settle in it.

Chu Xiaomu often observed the habits of bees in his spare time and gradually figured out the tricks of beekeeping. When the number of bees increased, he caught a new queen bee and built a new nest.

Less than two years passed, and from one small nest of wild bees eight nests of bees were born.

From then on, he and his grandfather no longer had to climb trees and cliffs to collect wild honey. They even gave the extra honey to their neighbors. Everyone was very happy and praised Chu Xiaomu for his intelligence and ability.

The two men observed around the beehive for a while, but did not see any broken wings or dead bees, and were confused for a moment.

Chu Xiaomu said: "Let's go to Hongmu Slope and see, maybe they have returned to their old nest." Hongmu Slope is located in the northeast of the South Village of Baihua Island, about an hour's journey away from the village. There are many wild bees there, and Chu Xiaomu's nests were also dug out from there.

Seeing that it was still early, Chu Xiaomu and Yang Dou found a way through the forest and headed towards Redwood Slope.

After arriving at Redwood Hill, I looked around for a while and indeed heard the buzzing sound of bees.

The two of them followed the sound and saw hundreds of wild bees flying through the forest at an extremely fast speed.